The Swordsman and the Flower Girl
by Moriyasha Neko-hime
Summary: “Are you sad?” Shizuka asked. ‘I’m not sad,’ Amelda thought, leaning his head on the young woman’s shoulder. ‘I’m downright pathetic.’
1. Walkabout

**(Cat-eared author sits on a tatami mat as she does traditional Japanese flower arrangement. Seeing the approaching readers, she bows.)** _Irashaimasen_, _Min'na-sama_. This marks the millionth YGO fanfic I have thought up, but the second I have decided to post. 

I won't prattle on about my Silentshipper love, because this is not a Silentshipping fanfic. **(Opens a fan with the kanji for 'Black' on it and hides her mouth)** No my wonderful guests, this is for a pairing that as far as I can tell does not exist officially; I have no idea what to call it.

You must read and decide if I am any good at writing this.

**Summary:** He promised to live for his brother's sake. But while the nights of a lifetime are short, the days are long and often unbearable. He carries his broken blade with him without a reason or a master to fight for. Flowers bring peace to many, including the dead. Will they save him?

**- - -**

**The Swordsman and the Flowergirl**

**- - -**

**ONE: Walkabout**

The outer shell of the Doma Organization's headquarters had fallen one day; not long after the monster that lay beneath had followed.

It was midnight when they stood together before the ruins of their home. The three Swordsmen of Doma had gathered once more.

"It's weird," Valon said, his hands in the pockets of his red jacket.

"It's the way it should be," Rafael said. "If it had stayed standing, the military or Kaiba would have torn it down anyway."

"I guess," the youngest member of the three Swordsmen sighed and scratched his spikey, almond-brown head. "Still, it was…home."

Amelda nudged a piece of metal with his foot before kicking it as hard and as far as he could. "I'll miss it, too," he said quietly.

It had been their base of operations; it had been their place to escape from the outside and all its horrors. But it had also been their home. It had been the place they met and lived together for many years, almost like brothers. Amelda and Valon had gotten into enough arguments and Rafael had broken each of them up enough times that they practically had qualified as brothers.

Now they would go their separate ways. Never to return to the place they had accepted themselves.

"What are your guys' plans?" Valon asked after a long while. "Raf?"

The well-built blond sighed, smiling lightly. "I'm going to finish the plans my parents had," he said. "We were all going to travel the world, visit every place we could and even a couple we couldn't. I think they would like that." He moved his soft blue eyes to his younger 'brother'. "And you?"

Valon smiled. "I'll stick to American soil," he shrugged. "I dunno what I'll do though. I just really want to move around; see stuff. Who knows, I might find something." He looked to the third member of their party as he stood atop a pile of rubble. "Hey, Mel! What are you gonna do?"

The wine-red-haired youth clambered down to level ground. "Walkabout."

Valon blinked. "What?"

"Walkabout," Amelda repeated, letting his silver gaze stray to the ruins of his second home. "It's this thing that I heard about once. You walk around until you meet yourself; when you finally do you sit down and talk."

"What about?" Rafael asked.

Amelda shrugged. "I'll know when I find myself."

"You're so weird, Mel," Valon sighed heavily. "Well, I guess if I see you, I'll tell you to sit down and give you a call to come over."

It took a moment for the other, older two swordsmen to work out what the third youth had said, and Amelda smiled. "Thanks."

Smiles were exchanged, and again the three looked to the mess that had been their castle in the sky.

The sun peeked over the edge of the horizon bringing light and life to the city and rose a good ways into the sky before they decided to leave.

"If you guys need anything, give me a call," Rafael said. "I can send you money or whatever whenever you need it."

"Thanks, man," Valon smiled. "That means a lot."

"You sure you don't want to come with us?" Amelda asked.

The head of almond-brown hair shook. "Nah. At least not yet. Maybe I'll wake up one day and decide to cross the ocean again. For now, I'll stick close to it, but keep my feet on dirt. Thanks anyway."

Rafael turned to Amelda. "Where are you planning to go first?"

The thin, almost feminine swordsman cast his gaze to the ground, then up ahead. "Back home," he replied. "I've been mourning over it for a long time, I figure that's the first place I'd be."

Though Rafael was the most loyal to Dartz and his cause, Amelda had been the first Swordsman of Doma. Taken in when he was twelve, it had been six long years fighting for the God of the Orichalcos.

"I can give you a lift," Rafael said.

"Thank you."

Valon and Amelda mounted their bikes, while Rafael got into the front seat of the jeep.

"Well, good luck to both of ya!" Valon smiled, revving his bike. "Don't be a stranger!"

"Same to you, Hedgehog," Amelda replied. "Don't go getting into trouble with the law anytime soon."

"Don't go getting raped, 'Miss'," the youth grinned.

"Enough," Rafael chuckled. "If you keep giving well-wishes, we'll never leave each other."

Nodding, Valon pulled out. "Bye, guys." He paused. "Hey…"

"Hm?" Rafael and Amelda turned.

"…I love you guys." And with that, he sped off down the road.

The other two Swordsmen stared after their friend and surrogate brother before looking at each other and smiling gently.

Amelda and Rafael left together, and eventually went their separate ways.

**- - -**

**- - -**

**  
**


	2. Return to the City of Games

**- - -**

**The Swordsman and the Flowergirl**

**- - -**

**TWO: Return to the City of Games**

Two years.

Two years to the day since Amelda had set out on his own in search of himself.

He had spent the first year in his desolated homeland, helping to fix up what could be saved and marking graves.

He had found his brother's. He had never forgotten where it was. But it didn't hurt so much anymore to go to it. Miruko was with him no matter where he went; he was content with that.

At least, he had been.

The days continued to pass without any real sign of ending, and Amelda came to realize just how long life could be. The nights were short, but his waking hours were painfully long. After a time, he finally left his scarred home to wander around the rest of Europe.

Now, he was heading for a place he had only gone to once.

Japan. Domino, Japan.

- - -

"_Big brother…"_

_The twelve year-old Amelda sat up and found himself in a vast field of flowers. The sky was the most beautiful blue he had ever seen, and with the green of the earth beneath it, he thought he was in heaven._

"_Brother."_

_He turned to find a familiar boy crouching beside him. His hair was short wine-red hair, silver eyes that matched his own, dressed in torn, dirty clothes. "Miruko…?"_

_Amelda's little brother smiled._

"_Miruko!" He hugged him tightly. "Oh, it's wonderful to see you again! I've missed you to death!"_

"_I know," Miruko smiled. "But you know I'm always with you, right?"_

_Amelda looked around. "I don't understand. Where are we? This place…what is it? How did I get here?"_

_The younger brother shook his head. "That's not important."_

_A gust of wind picked up and blew a wave of flower petals into Amelda's face. Looking after the wave, he smiled and looked back to his brother who returned the smile. The younger of the two then looked away from his brother and pointed._

_Following Miruko's gesture, Amelda looked beyond to find a small girl in a white dress with a huge sunhat picking flowers a few yards away with her back to the two of them._

"_Come on!" Miruko called, jumping up and pulling Amelda after him._

"_W-wait!" Amelda stumbled a bit as he got to his feet and followed after his little brother. When the two came within a few feet of the girl, they stopped and stood staring at her._

_She was really tiny, maybe only a little older than Miruko, and the sunhat blocked any of her other features._

_Suddenly, another wind shot across the field and Amelda shielded his face from the wave of petals; he also caught sight of the girl's hat flying away and watched after it until it disappeared._

_Turning back, he found the girl standing and looking at him, her lilies and tulips held tightly to her chest. Her hair was shoulder length and a fiery-cinnamon color, while her large, innocent eyes were a simple brown._

_The girl stared at him a while longer before finally speaking. _

"_Are you sad?"_

- - -

Amelda snapped awake, finding himself once again twenty years old and in his seat on the plane headed for Japan.

What had that been about?

He was familiar with the nightmares of the day his brother died in that tragic air raid; he had a dream about finding Miruko the day Doma fell, and that had comforted him enough to keep living. But this was completely different.

He gave a light cough and moaned when it passed, rubbing his sore throat through his black turtleneck. Somewhere he had caught a cold and it was getting worse; he hated being sick. And he always took great care of himself, so how the hell did he catch a bug?

He chalked it up to having gone on three flights to get to Japan, and having shared the same compact air with two dozen other people, something must have latched on to him.

"Attention, Passengers," the pilot's voice spoke from the intercom. "It is now 5:45 and we are now passing over Domino and will be landing within the next few minutes. Please secure your belongings and set your tray tables in the upright position."

Amelda looked out the window he sat by to gaze out at the city he was familiar with, but had only visited once, as it was curtained by falling rain. That time hadn't really been a vacation, but he had been the one to fly his friends and himself over there.

He caught sight of a tall building in the middle of town that he knew very well. His hate for that corporation and its master had faded long ago, and now he wondered how things were going with the two Kaiba brothers.

Last he'd heard, they were building Amusement Parks in America. Amelda found himself smirking at the though of them building one such park on the spot of the fallen Doma headquarters.

'_That would be irony,' _he thought with a chuckle, but was cut off when he started coughing again. He would wonder about his dream and reminisce later; he had to get something into his system to fight off this lousy cold.

- - -

The young, red-haired woman finished wrapping the bouquet of roses and tying it shut with a red ribbon. "Here you are," she handed the flowers to the woman and accepted the fee in exchange. "Date planned for tonight?"

The woman nodded. "I wanted to make my husband's and my anniversary special," she smiled. "I remember; I got my wedding bouquet from this shop…" The woman gazed off into the distance with a soft, dreamy sigh. "You've been open for so long, Kawai-_san_. I hope you know how much it means to me…"

Kawai Shizuka smiled. "Our shop wouldn't be anything if no one came," she said. "It's you and the others that come here that make it what it is."

The woman blushed and left with a soft 'Thank you,' and a bow.

Shizuka sighed gently and looked out the windows of her flower shop at the hard rain. It had been really cloudy lately, but the clouds had finally burst, releasing their moisture. She smiled, glad to have the cool weather after the harsh summer.

"Shizuka…help…?"

Turning at her name, the young woman rushed to help her boarding employee; he was a year or so older than her with white hair that went down to his shoulders and big, puppy dog-brown eyes. Bakura Ryou sighed when he and Shizuka finally placed the box of snapdragons down by the window.

"I thought I might be able to carry it on my own," he wiped his brow sheepishly.

"Hey, even you fall under the weight of heavy stuff sometimes, Bakura-_kun_," Shizuka smiled. Just then the bell above the door opened and couple more people entered. "Back to work," she winked.

- - -

Amelda walked his bike out of the Airport cargo bay, his bags and bedding strapped to the back. It was difficult to transport, but his bike was all he had that made him happy; to feel the wind rushing into him was the closest he could get to flying without a helicopter or plane and he wouldn't be caught dead without his bike.

Pulling on his helmet and gloves, he revved his bike and zoomed off down the street. He remembered from his only time in Domino that there was a decent hotel nearby; that was where they had had stayed for a couple of days.

As it turned out, he only had enough money to rent a room for about one night. Nonetheless, he took it and soon found himself collapsing on a comfortable bed with a sigh.

He was still incredibly tired, despite having slept on the flight, but it was late and his throat was getting worse. Taking a bottle of water from the small fridge, he filled a glass with ice and poured the bottle's contents into it; ice water usually helped a sore throat, though it did nothing for the cold itself.

Sitting back down on the edge of the bed, Amelda looked out the window on his right at the city lights. Since the sky was so dark in big cities, he guessed that the buildings and cars tried to make up for the lack of starlight.

'_Miruko would have liked it…'_ he thought, like he always did whenever he saw the colors of a city.

Thoughts of his brother made his mind stray back to the dream he had had on the flight. He had no idea what his little brother had been trying to tell him, or who that girl had been.

He didn't remember her from his childhood, and he was fairly certain he had never met her the past two years of walkabout, and definitely not during his days with Doma. He had had next to no contact with girls or women growing up; he never had much of a reason to, especially at that time.

He didn't know that girl; of that much he was certain.

Setting the glass on the bedside table he took off his jacket and shoes before laying down on the bed. Five minutes of lying in bed without any real signs of sleep approaching passed before he got up, taking a pillow with him.

'_I should know better by now,'_ he sighed as he found a comfortable corner, threw his pillow down and soon fell asleep.

- - -

It was late and the flowershop was bright in the dark of night. "It's almost eight, Shizuka," Ryou said. "It's about closing time."

Just then the phone rang and the young woman picked it up from its place on the wall. "_Moshi_ _moshi_, Edening Blooms."

"**_Shizuka, hey!"_** Piped up the familiar voice of her brother on the other end.

"Ah! _Onii-chan_!" Shizuka brightened and nodded to Ryou, allowing him to proceed to close up shop. "How have you been?"

"**_Fine, great in fact!"_** Jounouchi Katsuya replied. **_"I just wanted you to be the first to know that…that…Mai…"_**

The redhead's eyes widened. "She's back?" A sheepish chuckle was her reply. "Oh, _Onii-chan,_ that's great! When did she come by? How is she?"

"**_She came by this afternoon, we met at Yuugi's game shop,"_** Katsuya went on. **_"She seemed to be doing well. She…talked about staying in town for a while, so…maybe when you have some time you can drop by and hang with her."_**

Shizuka smiled at her brother's regular elusive admissions of what he really felt and thought. "Yeah, if I can, I'll do that."

There was a pause.

"_**So…how have you been, Shizuka? Holding up alright?"**_

"Yeah," she pulled up the stool behind the counter. "The shop's doing great! Just as many customers as usual, always a familiar face."

Another pause.

"_Onii-chan_?"

"**_Yeah?"_** Katsuya sounded as though he had snapped out of a daydream.

"I'm okay," she said softly. "It's been a good long while; I'm feeling a lot better. And with Bakura-_kun_ here, I'm not all that lonely."

"**_Good,"_** her brother said. **_"That's…that's really good."_** They talked for a little while longer before they both admitted they had to leave and left well-wishes as they hung up.

"How are things with Jounouchi-_kun_?" Ryou asked as they turned off the lights and headed up the stairs.

"Great! Mai-_san_ came back to Domino!" Shizuka replied.

Ryou's hair perked. "Really? That's fantastic! She must be feeling better then." The two took made their way up the stairs and stopped to take off their shoes before going down the hall to the living room. "I'll start dinner."

Making his way through the living room, the white-haired youth paused to bow to a picture on the bookshelf. "_Tsureishimasu_."

Shizuka sat herself down at the traditional Japanese table and smiled at the photograph of the woman on the shelf. "A lot of familiar faces, a couple new ones. Either way, still as busy and slow as ever, _ne_?"

Shizuka's eyes softened, but were still as bright as they always were. "It was a good day today, _Ogaa-san_," she said.

- - -

- - -


	3. Get Me to the Chapel on Time

**- - -**

**The Swordsman and the Flowergirl**

**- - -**

**THREE: Get Me to the Chapel on Time!**

It was still raining when Amelda awoke the next morning, and his throat was feeling worse as well; every time he swallowed it felt like wet sandpaper was running along the inside of his throat.

After taking a long hot shower, he gathered his things back together and left. He had taken his night in comfort, and he had to be frugal with what money he had left if he was to get by in Domino.

'_But right now,'_ he thought, pulling on his helmet, gloves and jacket, _'I need to find a pharmacy.' _His thought was followed by a couple painful and unintentional coughs. _'Damn cold.'_

Nonetheless, despite how bad he felt, he mounted his bike and headed out into the rain. As expected of a foreigner, Amelda was soon lost and had no idea where to find a pharmacy. And he was feeling worse and worse by the minute.

Pulling over to take a break, Amelda dashed under a rain cover of a nearby store and shook himself off as best he could, which was followed by a series of coughs as he removed his helmet. _'Well, it wasn't a very bright idea to go riding in the middle of a rain storm with a cold, stupid.'_

The door to the shop opened and out stepped a pregnant woman followed by her eight year-old daughter, both holding a bouquet of flowers. Seeing how weighed down the woman was, Amelda naturally held the door open for her.

"Thank you," she smiled and managed a small bow as she pulled up the hood of her daughter's jacket and opened her own umbrella before heading out into the rain.

An old couple soon followed the woman and smiled at Amelda's polite gesture as they too headed toward their car, the old woman holding a simple little potted plant sweetly.

Curious, Amelda looked at the window, but it supplied no name for the store. He did, however, see shelves of plants taking in what light they could from the raining sky, and looking back through the door he saw even more greenery. The smell of the store became far too inviting and he stepped inside.

It was almost like a forest there were so many plants; Amelda had only seen so many flowers in his dream the previous day. This florist shop—because he was sure that's what it was—topped all the ones he had seen back in Florida.

Making his way through the maze of greenery, Amelda soon found a young man about his age with white hair tending to a Banzai tree display.

The other youth looked over his shoulder and smiled, as if hearing Amelda's approach. But the former swordsman was sure he hadn't, it had been burned into his mental make-up to never make any sound.

"Hello," the boy turned all the way around, wiping any dirt or water from his hands with a towel on his belt. "How can I help you?"

"Huh? Oh, no. I'm just looking," Amelda replied.

"Vacation time?" The boy asked, still smiling.

Amelda blinked, and then remembered that he was a foreigner; how could he have forgotten that for a full minute? "Sort of," he said. "Actually, I'm a little lost."

"Well, let's try and fix that," the white-haired youth led him through the maze of his store to the cash register and checked the simple city map they had on the counter. "Where are you trying to get to?"

"I'm looking for a pharmacy or drug store," Amelda replied. He looked around; the place was filled with all types of plants, but they were arranged in a way that they didn't seem too out of place. The flowers filled several places and he lowered his eyes from them.

"Lessee…" the youth scanned the map. "There is a drug store close by. If you keep going for a bit, you should come to a crossroad and it should be there on your right."

Amelda bowed his head. "Thank you."

"No problem," the youth smiled. "Stop in again if you need any other help."

The former swordsmen doubted he would, but nodded anyway. As he turned to leave, he spotted someone moving in the back room and saw a flash of red. But he chose to ignore it and left to find the pharmacy.

- - -

"Who was that?" Shizuka asked as she returned to the front of the store with a full water jug just in time to see the door close and hear the bell ring.

"Lost tourist," Ryou replied.

His employer nodded with a smile and went on her way to water the potted plants. Turning one shelf, she found a small boy observing the tulip display.

He was a rather odd sight, wearing a thick red, wool sweater, brown shorts and shoes with no socks. From the holes in his sweater, the dirt decorating his legs and face and the untidiness of his red-brown hair, Shizuka wondered if he was homeless or something and had wandered in. _'Poor kid…'_

The boy seemed to notice the girl's presence and turned his large, silver eyes to her. Despite the dirt on his face, his eyes made him look too adorable and Shizuka's heart just melted.

"Hello," she smiled and walked over to him. "Can I help you with anything?"

The boy smiled and Shizuka had to suppress a _'squee'_ at how adorable he was. "I'm just looking," he replied. His Japanese was a little broken, and held a hint of another language.

Shizuka looked at the shelf. "Do you like tulips?"

The boy nodded, looking back at the flowers. "My mom really likes them, so I do too."

"That's nice," the older girl said. "My mom really likes…liked lilies, so it's the same with me. Though I really like all flowers in general."

The boy's smile saddened a little. "My brother likes flowers too," he went on. "But he says they make him really sad, so he says he _doesn't_ like them."

"How sad," Shizuka said. "Must be hard."

"Yeah…" Suddenly the boy's smile brightened. "But you know what? I have an idea that might help him."

"What's that?"

He looked back at her with a smile similar to one a child would give their mother when they wanted a cookie fresh out of the oven. "Do you think that _you_ could teach him to like flowers again?"

It had to be one of the odder requests anyone had ever brought to her store—well, Ryou dealt with perhaps the stranger ones—but the pure openness of it and the love in the boy's eyes was too much to resist. "Well, I can try…"

"YAY!" The boy threw his hands up and jumped up and down.

Shizuka couldn't suppress the little laugh that caused her to close her eyes. When she looked again, the boy was gone. The florist rose up and looked around the shelves for the small boy, but could find no trace of him. _'That might mean…'_

Returning to the cash register, she found Ryou balancing on the counter to water a plant hanging from the ceiling. "_Ne_, Bakura-_kun_?"

"Hm?"

"Have…you seen anyone come in since that guy who was lost?"

"I don't think so," the white-haired youth replied, hopping back down to the floor. "I haven't heard the bell ring at all."

"And no one came in with him?"

Ryou shook his head as he entered the backroom and looked back at her. "Not as far as I could tell. Why?"

Shizuka sighed, but before she could answer, the white-haired youth gave a cry of horror. "What? What is it?"

Ryou held up a lace-wrapped bouquet of tulips and lilies. "This was supposed to be at that wedding today…"

- - -

Amelda found the sought out Drug Store and after purchasing some lousy-tasting cough drops went to a café where he ordered a cup of coffee.

As he walked down the sidewalk, he looked up at the rain. And for the first time wondered why he had come to Domino, of all places.

He could have come to Japan and still avoided the Game City, but here he was. Why?

The only answer he had was for his own curiosity and gluttony for punishment. While he may not meet Seto Kaiba—_'Kaiba Seto,'_ he mentally corrected, as he was in Japan—it was possible he would encounter Mutou Yuugi and Jounouchi Katsuya. Though the former vessel of the Nameless Pharaoh was not likely to do him any harm, the 'Underdog' Duelist was known to hold a grudge.

But Amelda needed to look everywhere he had ever gone; he wouldn't stop until he found himself and talked about the thoughts and deeds that plagued him. At times, he wondered if maybe his Walkabout was just an excuse to run away.

He was haunted by his past. Haunted by the things he had done; or the things he hadn't done. But it was always something, and he could hardly ever make it disappear.

He could never really escape his past because it was always behind him. Always following him.

After the fall of Doma, Rafael had told him and Valon the truth about Dartz and how he had shattered their lives for his cause. They had been angry, furious, horrified and sad.

But in spite of that, Amelda wasn't sure if he hated the Atlantian King.

Paying for his coffee, Amelda took a sip, wincing as it burned down his sore throat and stepped back out into the storm. The rain was falling in thick curtains now and he considered waiting it out in the café, when a commotion far to his left caught his attention.

Further down the sidewalk Amelda saw a group of three boys in baggy ski jackets had surrounded a young girl hooded in a light blue rain coat holding a bouquet bound in a white cloth and her pale-haired, umbrella-toting companion. The three boys seemed to be trying to coerce the girl into joining them.

"Ah, c'mon, sweetheart! Come play with us!"

"Thank you, no," she replied smoothly, doing everything in her power to shield her flowers. "We have a delivery to make. Please, excuse us."

She and her companion moved to continue down the sidewalk, when their path was once again obstructed.

"Just a little game—"

"I'm pretty sure she already said 'no'," Amelda cut in, making the three boys and their two victims turn to look at him. He was somewhat surprised to find the one bearing the umbrella was the

white-haired youth from the flower shop, and he looked equally surprised, but they were interrupted before they could point it out to each other.

"Who th' hell are _you_?"

"No one of consequence," the former swordsman replied. "But I have a thing against harassing women."

"An' jus' what business is it of _yours_!" One of the ski-jacketed grabbed onto the collar of his shirt. But he immediately froze when Amelda fixed him with a cold, sharp silver glare.

Shakily, he let go of Amelda's shirt and backed away with his hands up. "S' cool," he said. "S' cool."

The wine-red-haired foreigner motioned for the white-haired storekeeper and his female companion to move through. The two calmly stepped out of the circle the three boys had put them in, and followed Amelda back toward the café.

- - -

"Dude!" One of the boys shoved his frightened comrade. "Why'd ya let 'em go?"

The shaken youth wiped some rainwater and sweat from his paled face. "Y' don't get it, man…" He said. "That guy… He had the eyes of war vet!

- - -

Back under the rain cover, Amelda leaned against the wall with a tired sigh before looking back at the three boys as they left. He was somewhat grateful he hadn't been forced into a fight; his throat felt like the inside had been rubbed with poison ivy and his head felt like a balloon with a brick inside.

"_Domo_ _arigatou_!"

The former swordsman turned his attention to the young woman beside him who smiled warmly with chocolate-brown eyes from beneath the hood of her rain jacket.

Unaccustomed to having such brightness directed at him, Amelda quickly averted his silver gaze. "It was nothing."

"Even so, I'm somewhat surprised to meet you again so soon!" The snow-topped youth smiled. "Did you find the drug store?"

"I did," Amelda nodded.

The hooded girl turned to her companion. "Bakura-kun, you know him?"

"He just stopped in the shop earlier to ask for directions," the young man—apparently named Bakura—replied. "It was while you were in the back room—"

"Ah!"

Amelda jumped at the girl's outburst of panic, and moved aside as she dashed to the corner.

- - -

Shizuka hurried to the reach the corner, but by the time she was able to turn and look down the street the was already turning onto the next corner.

"No…" The redhead moaned and sank to her knees, not caring a bit as the rain soaked through her jeans. "Of _all_ things possible, why'd it have to be the _bride's_ bouquet…? After everything else…why _this_?"

Back when her mother had been alive and in charge of the shop a beat had never been missed in any of the deliveries or arrangements. Since her death, Shizuka had had a couple of close calls, but this was earth shattering.

'_I'm so sorry, Mom…'_

"What's all this about?" Shizuka heard their foreign rescuer ask Ryou.

"The bouquet is for a woman who's to be married in a few hours," the white-haired youth said. "We needed to get it to the chapel, but we missed the bus…"

Shizuka didn't see the wine-redhead turn his silver eyes from Ryou to her back, nor she hear him mutter "What a pain," under his breath as he rubbed his temple.

"I can give you a lift," the foreigner said, loud enough for the girl to hear, and turn with a start to meet his gaze, unflinching.

This seemed to unnerve him somehow and he looked away, motioning to his bike resting behind him. "I can give you a ride," he repeated. "But I'll need directions."

Shizuka was somewhat reluctant to stand up out of her depressed hole and she opened her mouth—to say what, she had no clue—but shut it again before sound could possibly escape she look to his bike.

There, sitting on the stranger's bike, was the young boy she had seen back at the store, smiling warmly as he set his arm across the biker's helmet.

- - -

Amelda blinked at the girl's somewhat intent expression directed behind him, but following her gaze, he found nothing but his bike and helmet resting at his back. He turned back just in time to see the girl rise to her feet, her face the image of understanding.

"Thank you very much, that would be most helpful."

Mounting his bike, Amelda pulled on his helmet and revved the engine while the girl took the directions from her friend.

"Okay," she nodded as she read the slip of paper over again before tucking it into her pocket. "Bakura-kun, go back home and wait for us. And could you please set up a tea tray for when we get back?"

The white-haired youth blinked before smiling with a nod. "Of course!"

The girl then took her place behind Amelda, carefully positioning herself so that she could put both arms around his waist while not damaging the flowers in anyway. The biker fidgeted slightly at the contact, unused to being touched by anyone, much less a girl.

But he breathed deep, once again wincing at the pain in his throat. "Hold on; it goes fast." When he felt her arms tighten around his middle they sped off down the street through the rain.

They took a right, two lefts, another two rights and a left before arriving outside the chapel.

The girl stepped on the bike and stumbled, her legs apparently weak from the ride.

"Are you alright?" Amelda asked.

"D-_daijoubou_ _desu_…!" She replied with a somewhat nervous smile and hurried down the walkway to make it inside.

Amelda moved so that his bike was under some cover before leaning forward to remove his helmet, and he immediately regretted doing so as he felt his head rush painfully and he fell forward.

Taking some shaky breaths the pain gradually faded from his head and he was able to stand and follow the girl's steps inside the chapel. He had never been so happy to be inside a building before, but he was more grateful when he found a cushioned bench and sat down. Leaning back, he closed his eyes with a sigh.

He fell into a light doze with the comforting notion that his brother was sitting beside him…

- - -

Shizuka rushed down the hall , stopping in front of the bride's dressing room where she pulled down her hood and took a few steadying breaths before knocking on the door.

A woman with short auburn hair dressed in pink opened the door lloking slightly paniked. "H-_Hai_?"

"I-I'm sorry to bother you, miss, but…" She unwrapped the bouquet and held it out to the woman. "There was a slight delay in the delivery of the bride's bouquet."

"Eh!"

The short-haired woman opened the door wider and stepped aside as a slightly younger woman with long auburn hair clad all in white came to the door.

"I'm…terribly sorry for the delay, Madam," Shizuka said. "There was a slight mishap…"

The bride's face lit up with a smile as tears gathered in her eyes and she reached out of the room and hugged the young flower girl. "_Arigatou_! _Arigatougozaimasu_!"

Shizuka smiled and returned the embrace as best she could without damaging the flowers in her arms. "Congratulations."

The bride's sister—the woman in pink—led her back into the room and took the bouquet with a bow. "Thank you for your trouble, miss."

"Thank you," Shizuka bowed in return. "Happy Wedding day!"

With the close of the door, Shizuka turned on her heel to head back down the hall at a more relieved pace. As she entered the foyer again, she found her rescuer sitting on one of the benches, leaning back as if asleep.

And beside him, smiling warmly at her, sat the small boy from the store. Seeing the two of the side by side, Shizuka could see the perfect family resemblance.

- - -

"You don't look very good…"

Opening his eyes drearily at the familiar voice, Amelda found the girl he had driven here standing before him looking concerned. The hood of her blue rain jacket had been pulled down and he could see her long fiery-cinnamon hair pulled into the collar of her jacket.

The color rang a bell in his memory, but his slowly degrading thought pattern kept him from grasping where he had seen it before.

The girl reached out to touch his forehead, but he quickly stood up to avoid her hand. "I'm fine…" he said, rubbing his eyes with a groan. "I just have a bit of a cold…"

"Well…why don't you come back to my shop for a cup of tea?" The girl offered with a gentle smile.

Amelda shook his head, wincing at the growing pain in his skull. "I don't know…" he replied as he looked down at the floor.

"Please?" She leaned down so she could look into his lowered eyes with a smile. "I need to thank you somehow for helping me so much. And I can guarantee Bakura-kun's special blend will help your cold."

Amelda considered turning down the offer, but decided against it. This girl seemed meek and quiet at first glance, but he had the feeling she would persist until he accepted.

"Alright," he nodded.

"Okay!" The girl smiled and suddenly stopped with a giggle. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet." She bowed. "_Atashi wa_ Kawai Shizuka _desu_."

He nodded. "Nice to meet you…Kawai-san. I'm Amelda."

"Just Ameruda?" Shizuka blinked.

He smiled slightly at her accent. "Just Amelda."

- - -

They soon arrived back at the flower shop—Edening Blooms, Amelda discovered was its name—Shizuka allowed him to park his bike in the garage. And upon entering the dark area, Amelda found what looked like a van parked inside.

"It's having some engine trouble," Shizuka said, taking note of his attention to the vehicle. "Bakura-kun's been trying to fix it, and that's why we had to walk and try to catch the bus."

"Ah, I see," Amelda nodded as he left his bike in the corner and followed the shop owner up a couple stairs to the backroom of the shop.

Looking out into the front of the florist shop, Amelda saw Bakura wrapping a bouquet of daisies into some plastic for a male customer and tied it shut with a red ribbon.

"Thank you," the white-haired youth smiled as the man pain for his flowers and left with a tip of his hat.

"Bakura-kun…"

He turned and smiled as they entered the shop. "Welcome back. Mission successful, I take it?"

"_Hai_," Shizuka nodded and motioned back to Amelda. "I've invited Ameruda-san to join us for a cup of tea."

"Ah, Ameruda, is it?" Bakura held out his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Bakura Ryou."

Amelda nodded, but declined shaking the offered hand. "I don't shake hands, thank you."

Ryou looked to Shizuka who shrugged and they both returned their eyes to him with a smile. "That's fine," he said.

"By the way…" Amelda pointed up the set of stairs far to his left, "…I think your water's boiling."

Ryou and Shizuka then caught the high-pitched whistling of the teapot upstairs. "_Daihenda_!" The boy rushed past Amelda to bolt up the stairs. "I totally forgot! The tea!"

Shizuka giggled after him. "That's Bakura-kun for you," she said and then looked back at Amelda. "But that was cool, Ameruda-san. It wasn't very loud until a second ago, I'm impressed that you heard it."

"Oh…" Amelda looked away from her gentle smile. "I just have exceptional hearing, is all."

Shizuka shrugged and went to the front door to hang up the sign that read 'OUT TO LUNCH' before directing Amelda up the stairs. It became somewhat apparent to the former swordsman that the building was bigger than he initially thought from the many turns they made in their climb.

"It's four stories," Shizuka said, making Amelda jump when she spoke as well as what she had told spoken. "The first floor is where we sell everything, the second floor is where we grow the plant life, the second floor is where the offices are and the top floor is where the bedrooms and such are."

Amelda paused in his ascent, suddenly nervous of the girl. Had she just read his mind? He didn't really like the idea…as Dartz had done it more than once during his service.

"Ameruda-san? Are you coming?" Shizuka asked from the top of the stairs.

The wine-redhead finished the climb and stared down at the girl. "How did you do that?" He asked with a slight tone of demand in his voice.

Shizuka blinked with a start. "Oh! I'm sorry! I must've scared you a little, huh?"

"You _surprised_ me," he corrected.

"_Gomen_, _gomen_," she smiled. "It's just…a sort of sense I have. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry."

Amelda sighed. "Just don't do that, okay?"

"_Hai_!" Shizuka bowed. "I'm very sorry, Ameruda-san."

Coming to the top floor, Shizuka untied her blue sneakers, setting them on the tiled portion of the floor and replacing them with her house slippers. "You can use these," she said setting out another pair of slippers.

Amelda remembered that Japanese people had this thing with their house floors, he had even heard that school shoes are used for inside the building, and he had to wonder what it was all about. But nonetheless, he removed his boots and pulled on the offered slippers.

Entering the living room, Amelda found a classic black table—that one sat on the floor to use—to his left, accompanied by four seats that sat on the floor with backs and a bookcase, and to his right was a blue couch and a large TV. _'A plasma,' _he thought, somewhat impressed. _'This store must do pretty well.'_

Shizuka turned to Amelda and opened her mouth, but shut it again before sound could escape. Instead, she directed her attention to the kitchen straight ahead from the door. "Bakura-kun, is everything alright in there?"

A white head poked out of the serving window with a smile. "Fine! It's almost ready!"

"Won't you have a seat?" Shizuka motioned Amelda to the table.

Amelda carefully sat down, leaning back experimentally in the odd Japanese seat and Shizuka sat down across from him. Once comfortable, his body relaxed with a sigh of gratitude to be in the warm and dry room and his eyes closed unbidden.

Shizuka watched the older boy as he dozed, taking note of how flushed his face had become since she had seen him in the chapel and felt a tinge of worry at his condition.

Ryou soon carried out a tray bearing an English tea set that he placed on the table and passed the cups around. "Well, then…this is better, isn't it?"

Amelda's eyes opened and he lifted his cup to his lips, but rather than taking a sip he inhaled the sweet-smelling steam. "Smells good."

"It's Rose tea," Ryou smiled as he took a sip. "One of my favorites."

Shizuka set her cup back on the table and settled her hands on the edge of the table. "_Ne_, Ameruda-san. What brings you to Domino?"

"Nothing in particular," the older boy replied. "Call it nostalgia."

"Nostalgia?" The girl blinked.

"Have you been here before?" Ryou inquired, taking another sip from his cup.

"Once," Amelda said. "A couple years ago, but it was only for a couple days."

"Do you have any family down here?"

The wine-red-haired youth shook his head. "No." He lowered his eyes to the warm liquid in his cup. "No family."

Shizuka and Ryou glanced at each other curiously, but their attention was drawn back to their guest as he stifled a small series of coughs and fell forward to breathe once the attack passed.

"_Daijoubou_ _desu_ _ka_?" Shizuka sat up on her knees to lean across the table.

Amelda gasped, wincing as the air he took in burned his throat. "I'm…I'm okay…" He said. But in truth his head was beginning to pound and his balance began to spin.

"Would you like some water?" Ryou asked.

"No…no, that's alright," Amelda sighed. "But may I use your restroom."

"Sure," Shizuka nodded and pointed the corner of the kitchen. "It's just down the hall and the third door on the right."

"Thank you…" Amelda followed the directions to the water closet, gliding one had along the wall until he was inside and closed the door.

Running the hot water faucet, he splashed the steaming water onto his face and tried to breathe into his hands. The pain in his head was starting to become unbearable and he ground his teeth at the feeling of a stake being driven into his skull.

Drying his face with towel, Amelda stepped back out of the restroom to find Ryou standing by the door. "Sorry, I'm alright now," he lied as he made his way down the hall back to the living room.

"You don't _look_ any better," Ryou said with a great deal of concern as he followed him back into the living room

At the table, they found Shizuka looking at the seat next to the one Amelda had been in—as though listening someone talk—but her eyes immediately shot to his as he entered the room. "Ameruda-san…"

"I think I should go now," he said. "I don't want to intrude on you any longer."

"I wouldn't recommend it," the white-haired youth said, motioning to the window being assaulted by heavy rain. "The storm has gotten a lot worse, and in your condition, who knows what could happen."

Even so, Amelda made his way toward the door.

"Ameruda-san…"

He stopped and turned his silver eyes to Shizuka, still sitting at the table with her cup of tea.

"…Are you sad?"

Those three simple words hit him like a rock in the chest and he felt his blood freeze in his veins. He remembered.

- - -

_Turning back, he found the girl standing and looking at him, her lilies and tulips held tightly to her chest. Her hair was shoulder length and a fiery-cinnamon color, while her large, innocent eyes were a simple brown._

_The girl stared at him a while longer before finally speaking. _

"_Are you sad?"_

- - -

The room he stood in spun and blurred, as if he were on a merry go round, and he blacked out before he hit the floor.


End file.
